Duke Kunshan University, now in its third year, offers master's programs and a semester-long program for undergraduates, but a full undergraduate degree program is in its near future. The proposed undergraduate curriculum is expected to be discussed by the Board of Trustees and Duke faculty this year. The Chronicle's Claire Ballentine spoke with Provost Sally Kornbluth about the specifics of the proposed program and what concerns have been raised so far. The following conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.
The Chronicle: What discussions are going on about the undergraduate program at DKU?
Sally Kornbluth: We’ve been discussing the undergraduate program over the last couple of years. There’s a faculty committee that has been working to design an interdisciplinary, liberal arts curriculum that would be really unique for China but also unique anywhere. The curriculum was developed through a faculty committee, then it’s been vetted by other committees, and we also had consultants in China that were familiar with higher education in China discuss it. The other piece of it is that we’ve begun to delve deeply into what would be necessary for it to succeed in terms of getting high quality faculty and students there. There’s been a lot of thinking about why we want to do this undergraduate degree. To me, the strongest arguments are really three-fold.
One is that it is a great opportunity for pedagogical experimentation. [There are] things that we can do on a green field that would allow us to develop new teaching mechanisms and potentially bring them back to Duke. The other thing is that we can really impact China for decades to come, and China is going to remain an important player on the international scene. We’re talking about introducing a whole new kind of education there. The question is, 'what's in it for Duke?' I think a couple of things—we’re already starting to see the benefits of being embedded there, and we only expect that to grow. The vision is that if Duke is a truly global university, then we can really achieve a lot from being embedded there, impacting what’s happening locally and globally in education.
TC: Why is the University doing this specifically in Kunshan, China?
SK: I think China is a really important player on the global stage both economically, politically and socially. Part of it was practical—how do you find a partner that truly wants to invest that has the wherewithal and interest to build a really first-rate campus, and a place that is really invested in making a commitment to higher education? Kunshan is close enough to Shanghai that it’s influenced by a big city, but it’s very much a suburban campus. They’ve built us a really beautiful facility there. They’ve given us free hand in what education offerings we have there. They really want an undergraduate program there as they’re trying to grow their economy. They see that students with the ability to read, write and think critically are going to be critical for the growing of their environment. So we’ve got a partner willing to make the necessary investments and a location in the wealthiest province in China, where we can have a great lifestyle there for our faculty and students and have an impact there for the whole country.
TC: What degrees will be offered and how will a degree from DKU compare to a degree from Duke in Durham?
SK: We don't have anything absolutely definitive yet because it would have to be approved both by our accreditors and the Ministry of Education in China, but what we believe will happen is [the degree] will say Duke University as offered at Duke Kunshan University. So it would clearly be a Duke University degree, but clearly at Kunshan. We had a market research firm who talked to students, and they want the degree to indicate that it was given in China, and they don't want to be accused of misrepresenting their degree. I think that the Duke faculty and students feel the same way. They want Duke Kunshan University to be a really high quality university but not say it’s the exact same thing because it’s not. We want it to be of equally high educational caliber.
TC: What is the timeline on the program's approval?
SK: The vote by the Academic Council is in November, so we should know soon if the faculty approve it, and then the Board of Trustees has a vote in December. Then we start marching toward a launch. The original conversation was to launch in 2018. That has not been ruled out by any means. But on the other hand, we really need to start recruiting faculty and have a serious recruitment operation for students and see if we can make that date. 2019 is also a possibility. We want to make sure we have a truly high-quality offering, and we’ll know as soon as we start to recruit faculty how easy or difficult it’s going to be. We don't need a huge number to launch because it’s a small, liberal arts college.
TC: What concerns have faculty members raised about the undergraduate degree program?
SK: I would say they fall into a few categories. The first is financial. Duke has spent a good deal of money there on Phase 1, and although the expenses have been as anticipated, the revenues have fallen short. The master's programs haven’t grown at the rate that we would have liked. So the question is, how do you know you’re going to have the revenue in the next phases? In the first phase, the cost was split 50-50 with our Chinese partners. In the next phase, we have kept our subsidy of the operation at $5 million, and there will be $1 million of additional funding put into the hands of Duke faculty who want to do collaboration there. But our partners have committed $40 million a year. So a lot of the initial cost concerns are lost.
The other is the faculty quality, and one of the things that is going to be critical is the participation of Duke faculty in selecting colleagues for Duke Kunshan University. I think it’s going to have long-term payoff if the Duke faculty participate integrally in recruitment. In terms of student quality, we want students who are really strong. Part of that is going to be personal interviews to make sure their English is strong, because all the courses are offered in English. We’re going to have to make sure that they’re strong academically and so that has been another point of contention.
Another thing has to do with academic freedom. There are seven joint venture universities in China, and no one has seen an infringement on academic freedom. A number of the professors at Duke who have taught there commented on the huge breadth of viewpoints in the classroom, and they’re just bowled over by it. They’ve talked about anything they’ve wanted in the classroom, with no censorship. Also the students and faculty there have access to anything on the Internet that we have at Duke.
We’re thinking about this not only for the present but for 30 to 40 years from now. If we can really do this well, this will have a huge international impact and also put Duke in an extraordinary light.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.